Treasury IG official compares IRS scandal to Nixon

The TIGTA report, released in April, has set off a blizzard of controversy on Capitol Hill, and has led to the resignation or removal of several top IRS officials.

George testified alongside Danny Werfel, who took over the IRS as acting commissioner roughly two weeks ago, following the resignation of the former Acting Commissioner Steven Miller.

Werfel, previously a top official at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), called the activity at the IRS unacceptable, and vowed to conduct a comprehensive review of IRS practices to make sure it never happened again.

A key question swirling around the controversy is exactly how IRS employees in Cincinnati came to identify tax-exempt applications for extra scrutiny based in part on Tea Party affiliation decided to take on the practice. Congressional Republicans have expressed disbelief the practice could have been created by low level employees acting out of bounds. George said in conducting his investigation of the practice, IRS employees were asked who gave the direction, and no one would answer the question.